General Stuff in Life Poll: US College Football

[MoeFOH]

Take this post as educating the uneducated Aussie on this topic. (That'd be me. )

Give me general info on questions such as these: 

How big a part of the Sports calendar is it for you? 

How does it compare to the NFL for you? Better/Worse... why?

Which team do you follow? 

What's the outlook / realistic hope for their season?

Who do you predict will win the whole thing?

Star talent coming through to keep an eye on?

Etc and so on... Poll will run till 21st Aug.

Vote & Discuss  . 

[HDGSN]

How big a part of the Sports calendar is it for you? Probably my favorite sport overall. Premier League and Golf just behind it.

How does it compare to the NFL for you? Better/Worse... why? Way better. Growing up in the South in the US, many were raised to follow their college team and NFL lagged way behind - Bucs, Saints and Falcons were second fiddle.

Which team do you follow? University of Tennessee Volunteers (aka the Vols). Go Big Orange.

What's the outlook / realistic hope for their season? Always unrealistically hopeful. Better than average compared to the 2010-2020 doldrums. Not as good as 2022 or 2024. Probably a 3 or 4 loss team (tough schedule).

Who do you predict will win the whole thing? Texas

Star talent coming through to keep an eye on? For us, Mike Matthews (WR) and Jermod McCoy (CB).

[my happy place]

How big a part of the Sports calendar is it for you?  I've attended more college games than pro. It definitely has to do with my having attended a power school and enjoy the tailgating every time.

How does it compare to the NFL for you? Better/Worse... why?  More pride in the game.

Which team do you follow?  THE Ohio State University. Yeah, I see the Wolverines on here, and I'm looking forward to THE GAME this year.

What's the outlook / realistic hope for their season? We beat Michigan, win the Big Ten, and the Nattie (again).

Who do you predict will win the whole thing? We will.

Star talent coming through to keep an eye on? Jeremiah Smith. He may not win the Heisman, but he'll certainly be invited to the ceremony.

[Chibearsv]

College football has never hit home for me. I’ve never felt a deep kinship with the Universities I attended which is a huge part of it. I’m sure I’m in the minority. I love NFL football though. I don’t think I’ve ever missed seeing a Bears game…even though they generally stink. I probably should seek counseling. 

[KCCubano]

I am a college football fanatic. Grew up in a sports loving family. I went to the University of Arkansas in the 80s. Nothing like a home game on Saturday at Razorback Stadium. I am glued to the TV on Saturdays from 11AM CST to midnight watching college football. 

Of course I love the NFL as well. I live in Kansas City and we have had a good run the last 5+ years! 

Really tough to say which I prefer between college and pro. Been to so many games over the years. Had season tix to the Chiefs and Razorbacks. Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City is quite the venue.  Been to other stadiums and nothing comes close. 

I guess its a coin flip for me. All I know is its right around the corner and I am pumped for both! 

[gormag38]

How big a part of the Sports calendar is it for you? It's a pretty big deal. After the dog days of summer of little consequential sports (besides golf for myself), it's so refreshing to hear those marching bands play and see the big stadiums rocking with college kids. 

How does it compare to the NFL for you? Better/Worse... why? I used to rate it better. But frankly all this NIL, transfer portal BS has made it extremely hard to get connected to a team/players. Couple that with the run the Lions have been on and the NFL has certainly taken the top spot for me. 

Which team do you follow? Michigan State Spartans. Hometown team. Go green. 

What's the outlook / realistic hope for their season? Better win at least 7 games. We're breaking in a second year coach, who's had some past success at Oregon State. Alot of the fan base was not very happy with the hire last year as they wanted a splashier name. After a pretty ho hum season his first year the pressures on for him to show some progress in year two. The AD who hired him was fired this summer and replaced by a much younger guy who has ties to Saban and Alabama and is all about the modern day athletics dept (eg. fundraising, NIL, etc). If coach doesn't produce this year I wouldn't be at all surprised to see his seat get extremely hot. 

Who do you predict will win the whole thing? I think the fourth coming of Manning gets it done. Texas. Alot of folks are high on Oregon too, but I can't ever really buy into them.

Star talent coming through to keep an eye on? Jeremiah Smith is an obvious one. Dude was lights out as a frosh and will likely only get better. Another one, for the homer in me, Nick Marsh. He could've jumped ship for a whole lotta money, but chose to stay in East Lansing and build something special. He'll be playing on Sundays for sure. 

[LLC]

Love college football. Being from Canada I don’t really have a “team” but I enjoy watching the big schools with rivalries go at it. If I had to pick one team it would probably be the first team I really followed years ago and that was USC. I also like NFL but there is something I really enjoy about watching the younger players in college football who are playing for their future. 

[riderpride]

Firmly in the 'Love It' column.

How big? PVR all my team's games and watch more than any other sport, but it's hard to get content in the Great White North. 

It's bigger than the NFL in this house, but trending downwards with the NIL and transfer portals and too many teams making the playoffs (8 is enough). Players are now free to move anywhere without any penalties while the teams and fans suffer. It was hard enough recruiting outside of the top few teams as it was - now teams worry about talent crossing the street. For example, Tenn was looking upward last year until Nico 'Iamaleft'. 

Been a Florida Gators fan since the Spurrier days 35 or so years ago and the Tom Petty link doesn't hurt.

This season is looking good. They started slow last year but ended 8-4 despite missing the top 2 QBs for a few games. Mertz hit the NFL and Lagway's fantastic when healthy. This is the second year in a row they probably have the toughest schedule, but that's SEC life. I'm thinking 9-3 which may be good enough for the playoffs, but no SEC Championship.

They picked up a lot of 4-star recruits, but I'm watching Brown and Wilson to get some big yards and Jackson and Wiggins on the other side of the ball.

I'm thinking The Irish (my #2 team) have worked on the intermediate to long passing game and are ready to win it all.

Here's the schedule this year and a video from the 3rd Qtr Stretch last year when the family visited The Swamp in Oct.

Edit: To anyone on the fence and to@MoeFOH- hit up Netflix and watch SEC Football: Any Given Saturday and Untold: Swamp Kings for a little push.

[BigGuns]

Looks like Toronto has Calgary beat in this discussion…and he cooks on a KJ, to boot. 
 

FIGHT ON!!’

[my happy place]

7 hours ago, BigGuns said:

FIGHT ON!!’

The Big Ten is better if SC competes. I really hope Lincoln Riley puts it together soon.